A Star's Name
by Ebenbild
Summary: Why are the Blacks all named after stars? Seven-year-old Sirius is quite intrigued with that question.


_**Disclaimer**_ _: I'm too young to be Rowling so there is sadly no way Harry Potter is mine…_

 _ **Placing:**_ _Throughout the story and at the time of the Marauders._

 _Challenge: 'Prompt of the day'. Prompt_ _: (_ _word_ _)_ _stars_ _. 1090_ _words_ _._ _Gryffindor_ _,_ _Hogwarts_ _._

xXxXxXxXxXxStarxXxXxXxNamexXxXxXxXxNamexXxXxXxXxStarxXxXxXxXxXxXx

sSsSsSsSs

 _ **A**_ _ **STAR**_ _ **'**_ _ **S**_ _ **NAME**_

sSs

Sirius was sitting quietly at the feet of his father, watching him work while at the same time refusing to do his learning.

"Sirius," his father finally sighed. "Start memorizing again. You know you have to know all this when you will take over the family magic one day!"

Sirius grimaced, but looked down at the book in his lap dutifully.

Another few minutes were used by sitting next to each other – well if you could call it next to each other considering that the child was sitting at the feet of the father, leaning against them while being half-hidden beneath the desk the father worked on.

But in the end, the child couldn't keep looking at the book in his lap anymore and returned to studying his father. The father already showed some grey hairs within his usual black and his eyes were just a tat darker than the boy's.

"Sirius," the father reprimanded the boy again. "Don't get distracted. Your mother will question you later and I don't think that you want to disappoint her, do you?"

"No, father," the maybe seven-year-old replied dutifully.

"Then why do you keep stopping when you have a task to do?" His father finally asked frowning.

The child hesitated.

"Why stars, father?" He finally asked his father.

The father looked at his son in confusion.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked in the end, and the child dutifully elaborated.

"Why are we named after stars, father?" The boy asked, confusion on his face.

The father frowned, surprised by the question. When he didn't answer immediately, the child saw the need to elaborate even further.

"Why aren't we named after Roman emperors, for example?" he asked his father.

"Why should we be named after Roman emperors?" The father returned the question with a raised eyebrow and the boy shrugged.

"Don't shrug," his father reprimanded the child.

"I'm sorry, father," the boy said immediately. "And I don't know. It was just a thought."

When his father looked at him, interest in his eyes, the child hesitatingly explained further than that.

"We're superior, aren't we, father?" he asked. "At least, that's what mother always says. So shouldn't we use… some more regal names to show it?"

The father thought that over.

"We're superior to some of them," he corrected the boy in the end. "We've definitely purer blood than a lot of the peasants – but that doesn't mean that we're superior to all of them. There a quite a lot of families out there that can trace their ancestry further back than us… like the Longbottoms… and the Potters… and some others as well…"

The child's confused face cleared a little bit at that.

"Oh," he said. "So… they're superior to us, father?"

The father smiled.

"No, Sirius," he said. "But they also aren't inferior to us."

The boy nodded earnestly.

"I understand, father," he said. "We cannot have the names of emperors because we aren't the only ones."

"Exactly," the father said. "Also, the Princes traditionally use those names – and you wouldn't like to be confused with a Prince, would you?"

The boy shook his head emphatically.

"No, father," he said seriously. "I wouldn't like that one bit."

"Good," the father said. "It wouldn't do you any good if you were. We shouldn't be associated with them in any way or form – not after the Princes' daughter has done what she did! Of course, she's always been a nasty girl, even when we were still at Hogwarts, but what she did after… no, Sirius! Swear to me that you will never associate with one of them!"

"Of course, father," the son said innocently. "I promise I will never befriend any of them!"

"Good," the father said.

For a moment, there was silence, then the boy spoke up hesitatingly again.

"But why stars, father?" He asked the adult.

The father thought about that.

"Because they are regal in their own sort of way," the father said. "They are superior, unreachable and at the same time able to guide us."

"Guide us, father?" The child repeated. "Do they truly guide us?"

The father nodded seriously.

"That they do, son," he said. "And it would do you good to listen to them if they decide to speak to you!"

The child frowned at that.

"They speak to me?" He repeated confused. "I never heard them until now, father!"

"And you won't if you don't learn to close your eyes, quieten your thoughts and listen," the father said gravely.

"And when they talk, do I have to listen to all of them?" The boy asked the father concerned.

The father just smiled.

"No, child," he said. "It's only a few which will guide you – not all of them. You would never be able to listen to all of them if they decided to talk to you all at once!"

The child thought that over, concern clearly displayed on his face.

"You're right, father," he said. "Listening to all of them would be like trying to listen to all of my cousins at once: totally impossible!"

"Exactly," the father said. "And that's the reason why we're named after a star. The star or the constellation we're named after are the ones guiding us. Learn to listen to your star and it will never stir you wrong."

The boy nodded seriously at that.

"I will, father," he promised. "I will listen to it for my whole life, I promise."

Little did the father know that his son would abandon the family because the voice the child called 'his star' would tell him to do it. Little would the father know that the son would die by his cousin's hand because his star had told him to go into battle.

In the end, they would meet again beyond the veil.

"Sirius told me to go my own way," the son told his father the moment they met.

"I know," the father said. "I could hear its voice, too, the day before you left us for good. I'm sorry I didn't listen to it back then, son. It would have spared you a lot of grief if I had told you that I understood."

The son just smiled at that.

"Don't worry, father," he said. "I don't regret that I followed my star my whole life – exactly like I promised you all those years ago. I had a good life. I don't regret a thing."

Even with all the mistakes he had made, he meant it.

And far below them, Sirius shone, guiding its child's child to its destiny.

xXxXxXxXxXxStarxXxXxXxNamexXxXxXxXxNamexXxXxXxXxStarxXxXxXxXxXxXx

 _Just a little idea_

 _Hope you liked it_

 _Ebenbild_


End file.
